22 March 2011

Gabbro (pronounced: ɡæbroʊ) refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass.

Carrock Fell with the Boardman's, Mushroom and Low Boulders left of centre.

Gabbro can be found on the flanks of Carrock Fell, Cumbria and that's where I spent the afternoon, whiling away my time on the problems, which can be found on the Gabbro boulders. Carrock Fell is probably one of the best venues close to Carlisle and for some reason I've not visited it since November of last year.

Problem 17 on the Aretes Boulder.

Crimping up Problem 18 on the Aretes Boulder.

I took in some new problems before moving on to a problem I have tried once before, but didn't get round to completing. I worked out a new sequence of moves, which got me past my previous high point, and then I couldn't make the following move to the top. I ground the problem into submission with countless attempts and instead of it letting up, my fingers let out. I had to call the session to an end as my finger tips started to spurt blood over the small sloping, but incredibly painful holds, as well as anything else I decided to touch.

However, before leaving I happened to notice that there's a large field of boulders between the two central groups of documented problems, which look to have a few lines, albeit above bad landings, that don't appear in the Lakes Bouldering guidebook. I may just be back before another four months pass to check them out.

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About Me

I am an outdoor enthusiast from the north-west of England who enjoys being in the outdoors. When it's raining I'll be looking to get on the river and when it's not I'll be trying to summit a Lakeland fell or bag another climb. I try to document all my outdoor activities in the Lake District, and further afield, through photographs; another passion of mine.

"Think much and act a little, but when you act, act swiftly and with much conviction."
- Tommy Hilleke

"I could grasp the holds, but not the problem."
- Pat Ament

"I have no sympathy with the ever increasing number who look on the tramp to the foot of the crags as a 'beastly grind.' It will be disastrous to the sport of climbing if its devotees cease to love the mountains as a whole, as the older men did, and wish only for the crags."
- Lehmann J. Oppenheimer (The Heart of Lakeland, 1908)